Apple Play Dough Tray

Have you tried making our apple cinnamon play dough? We used it in our five senses lesson, but it is also perfect for Autumn and goes great with our apple taste test lesson. Using simple items, you can create an invitation to play that will make your play dough center even more irresistible!

Setting Up an Invitation

One of the great things about preschoolers is that they find joy in the little things. Use a variety of dollar store and “found” items to help entice their imaginations. Start with a dollar store veggie tray. The compartments are great for organizing the items visually, and that center spot is perfect for the big ball of dough – and it only costs a dollar!

Other items you can add include:

craft sticks

cinnamon sticks

foam cut out leaves

silk leaves

table scatter

small twigs

tree “cookies” (found at hobby lobby, but you can make your own too!)

small plastic apples (we took ours from a manipulatives set)

rolling pins

pie tins

plastic pizza cutters

5 Reasons Why Play Dough is Essential

Many teachers avoid play dough – but it is an important tool disguised as a fun activity. Yes, it can be messy, but spend some time with the students at the beginning of the school year playing with them and demonstrating how to use the materials and also how to clean up and care for them.

Some of the benefits of play dough include:

Pinching and manipulating the dough strengthens the muscles in the hands, which is essential for writing.

Kneading the dough and rolling it out with rolling pins uses the muscles in their arms and shoulders, which makes it a calming activity by providing large muscle pressure and input.